Jose Cuervo
by justanoutlaw
Summary: Regina shows up at the loft to confess something to Emma, only to find that she has some confessions of her own.


This was a prompt submitted to me by an anonymous user on Tumblr from an angst sentence starter meme I reblogged:

"You ruined everything. You did this. It's all your fault."

Since my last few prompts have been Regina being angsty and upset, this is Emma's turn. Robin is mentioned here, but not shown. Set as though Hook's stay in the Underworld was a permanent one.

* * *

Regina felt…free? She wasn't sure if that was the right word for it. The engagement had happened so quickly, she hadn't been able to think about it or even realize that wasn't what she wanted. The pixie dust may have lead her to the tavern that night, but he wasn't her soulmate. She couldn't go through with the wedding, not when her heart belonged to another.

Speaking of which…her Mercedes made the way towards the loft on the corner. Ever since they returned to Storybrooke, Emma had moved back in with her parents. That giant blue house just held too many bad memories from her times as the Dark One. Plus, Hook had been the one to buy it and that just didn't feel right anymore.

Regina couldn't help but notice that David's truck was missing as she parked and Neal's car seat wasn't in Snow's car. That had to mean they were out. Henry was at Granny's with Violet for a date, he wouldn't be home until much later.

"Perfect," Regina mumbled to herself. She wouldn't have an audience for any of this. She knew Snow was going to have a million questions, but those could wait after she said what she needed to.

She made her way up to the apartment and knocked on the door. There was some clattering and then loud footsteps towards the door. The moment the door opened, Regina frowned. Emma reeked of tequila.

"Gina," she said, a sloppy smile going across her face.

"You're drunk," Regina replied, her frown deepening.

"Mom and Dad took Neal out to do…well I don't know. I was all alone, not that, that's any different."

Regina helped her back inside and over to the couch. It had been 6 months since they returned to Storybrooke and Emma hadn't used alcohol to get over her pain. In fact, she had seemed to move on quite fast. She didn't understand why she was suddenly nursing her pain with Jose Cuervo now.

"Here, why don't you lay down," Regina suggested. She knew that there was no way she could get her upstairs on her own and she wasn't going to mix a drunk person and magic.

"I'm fine," Emma pushed her away and went to grab for the bottle again. Regina took it and carried it to the drain, dumping the little amount left down the drain.

"Hey!"

"I'm not going to let you self-medicate," Regina told her.

Emma flopped down on the couch. "You're not my mother."

"Well something tells me when she comes home, she's not going to be happy to find you like that."

"She wanted to talk about it and I said no."

Finally, they were getting somewhere. Regina walked back over and sat beside Emma. "Maybe it would help."

"Nothing will help, I can't change it. I tried, but it wasn't good enough."

"You did all you could…"

"You ruined everything. You did this. It's all your fault."

Regina raised an eyebrow, completely confused. How was any of the Underworld her fault? She hadn't wanted to go down there in the first place, but she wasn't going to let Emma go by herself. She had done all she could to save Guyliner. She tried to remind herself that Emma was drunk, but then again, sometimes people said things they couldn't sober after a few drinks.

"How is this my fault?" Regina asked, playing along.

"You…you said yes," she slurred in response, laying back.

"I just wanted to help you, Emma."

"Right, because accepting that diamond ring was helping me in some way."

That's when it all became clear. Emma hadn't gotten drunk to get rid of her pain over losing Hook.

She had done it to get rid of the hurt surrounding losing Regina.

Regina's face fell and put a hand onto Emma's arm. Before she could say anything, her friend continued her drunk rambling. "It wasn't even that big. I'm a princess you know, I could've gotten you a much bigger one."

"I know," Regina whispered.

"I wanted you, I wanted to choose you. I was stupid though and now it's too late." Pained green eyes met Regina's. "You're marrying him."

With that, Emma began to cry. Regina bent down, wrapping her arms around her. She didn't say anything, the two just cuddled together. Each cry broke Regina's heart. She rested her chin upon Emma's head, shutting her eyes. Finally, the tears subsided to sniffles and Emma started coughing. Regina managed to get herself off and went into the kitchen, pouring her a glass of water. She returned with that and some tissues, sitting beside Emma. The other woman sorted herself out, taking big sips.

"It's not too late," Regina whispered. Emma looked up, her eyes bloodshot. "I…I gave the ring back." She held up her bare left hand. "I couldn't marry him."

"Why?" Emma's voice was hoarse.

"Because my heart belonged to someone else…you."

"Are you just saying this because I'm drunk?"

Regina shook her head. "I came here to tell you…but you were a bit busy."

The words were sobering for Emma. She looked from the tissues to Regina, seeing her kind face. Regina had ended her engagement. For her.

"This isn't how this was supposed to go," Emma said, finally.

Regina laughed a bit. "I guess not."

"Can we try this again…when my mind isn't clouded by Jose Cuervo?"

Regina nodded, the smile staying on her face. "Yes, I'll come by tomorrow, once your hangover is gone."

Emma lowered herself completely on the couch so she was laying down. Regina grabbed the quilt from the arm chair and gently tucked it over her. She pushed some curls out of Emma's face, watching as she drifted off to sleep.

"Sweetest dreams," she whispered.

* * *

As always, prompts are accepted on my Tumblr accounts: just-an-outlaw and justanoutlawfanfiction!


End file.
